ATARI BYTES

Remember those great Atari 2600 games? Sure, they were fun to play, but didn't you ever wonder why they needed to call a plumber to take out Donkey Kong? What exactly Yar was seeking revenge against? What the Defender was defending? What was making those robots so Beserk? Me too! ATARI BYTES is a game review podcast like no other. On this show, we take a BYTE (get it?) out of a classic Atari 2600 game and see if the story within the game BYTES (now do you get it?) us back.

Remember those great Atari 2600 games? Sure, they were fun to play, but didn't you ever wonder why they sent a plumber to take out Donkey Kong? What Yar was seeking revenge against? What the Defender was defending or why those robots went Berserk? Me too! ATARI BYTES is a game review podcast like no other. We review not just the game play, but the STORY within these classic games. We take a BYTE out of the story (get it?) and see if that story BYTES us back (now do you get it?).

Why send a Pac-MAN to do a job when Ms. Pac-Man can do it so much better? Episode 8's game is Atari's 1982 version of Arcade legend MS. PAC-MAN. The gameplay does not disappoint. It looks and sounds about as close to the arcade version as you could get. Sure, the artwork in the manual has Ms. Pac-Man wearing thigh high boots and crimson lipstick, but, then, so am I.

Ahem.

As always, we'll go beyond the fun of merely playing to dig into the story within the game. Is Ms. Pac-Man looking to pick up where Pac-Man left off? Is she looking for revenge? Is she totally unrelated to Pac-Man an just shares a name because "Pac-Man" is as common a name in their universe as "Smith" is in ours?

So many questions. You just better listen.

The songs you hear in the show - "Take a Chance", "Reformat", and "Pinball Spring" -are courtesy of creative commons license from Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com

OH, THE CLOWN-MANITY! In this 1980 Atari game, clown after clown face-plants under the Big Top trying to bounce off a trampoline onto a teeter-totter. After then leaping from the teeter-totter and popping some balloons, you, player, are supposed to catch them. But you can't. Because you stink at this game. Or maybe...it's serial clown murder. Either way, this is good, family, slaughter-fun. Pass the circus peanuts and let's do this.

WARNING: At about the ten minute-thirty-eight-second mark, I more or less spoil the ending to Stephen King's DARK TOWER novel series. It seemed like a good idea at the time. You might want to skip from about 10:37 to 10:47. Sorry.

My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for the use of his songs "Take a Chance", "Reformat" and "Pinball Spring".

The carnival is in town! The majesty of the Ferris wheel. The roar of the ferocious lions. The siren call of demons from the underworld enticing you to play their game. If you do, you're off on a hellish roller coaster of demons that mock, diamonds that bounce and skulls with post-nasal drip. What in the world is going on here? Put down that corn dog and help us figure it out.

Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for the creative commons license to the songs "Take a Chance", "Reformat" and "Pinball Spring".

Episode 4 is up! Old Man River, that Old Man River...He says, "Keep the noise down!" What noise? EXPLOSIONS! This week's game is the 1982 Activision game RIVER RAID. It has jets. It has helicopters and fuel depots. Boats and bridges all over the place. And they're all blowing up...Thanks to you. I've been playing Atari games for 30+ years, but I've only had this one about a week. AND IT'S AWESOME. Where has this thing been all my life? And yet, such is the nature of this podcast that we have to ask, "Sure, blowing up stuff is fun, but WHY?" And so we do. Take your Dramamine and hop aboard.

If your knowledge of the Old West comes primarily from "Back to the Future III", then this is the episode for you. OUTLAW is our game; the game where gunslingers rule the town...unless there's a stagecoach or a cactus blocking their path. This 1978 Atari game promises players they "can become expert gunslingers during these games". Go head to head and leave your opponent in the dust. Throw in a sarsaparilla six-pack and shine my spurs and I am all in.

Q*Bert! He was adorable, wasn't he? Sure he was. But man, he was a little guy with issues. Can't really blame him though, what with Coily and Sam trying to push him off that pyramid. All the guy wanted to do was change the color of those cubes. In this episode, we decide whether this plot makes any sense and, along the way, psycho-analyze a fictional character from a thirty-year-old video game. Anyone who tells you the Internet is a waste of time...should listen to this podcast.

Thanks to Kevin McLeod, as always, for the creative commons license to the songs "Pinball Spring", "Reformat", and "Take a Chance".

Remember those classic Atari 2600 games? They were fun to play, but didn't you kind of wonder why they sent a plumber to take down Donkey Kong? What the Defender was defending? What Yar was trying to get revenge against? What made those robots go berserk? Me too! This podcast tries to divine those answers from within the games. Then, if we can't, we make 'em up.